William scott



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet; 2.

w. SCOTT.

WATER CLOSET GISTERN. No. 275,716.. Patented Apr. 10,1883.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM soorr, or FAULKNER, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIeNoE T MEYER, SNIFFIN &00., on NEW YORK, N. Y.

WATER-CLOSET CISTERN.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,716, dated April10, 1883. Application filed December 20, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM SCOTT, ofFaulkner, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Closet Gisterns;and I do hereby declare that the followin g is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making part of this application.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inwater-closet cisterns, and has for its object a simple and efficientconstruction of such contrivances in a manner which will render themcapable of effecting I 5 both a preliminary and an after wash withcomparative perfection and complete certainty of action.

Previous to my invention water-closet cisterns have been constructed soas to afiord both a preliminary and a subsequent or main discharge ofwater to the bowl; but in all such contrivances with which I am familiarthere are some practical objections, either as to complexity ofconstruction or uncertainty of continuous perfect operation.

I propose by my invention .to provide for use a water-closet cistern ofthe type referred to, which will be not onlyperfectly certain and.elficient in its operation, but which will be simple and economic ofconstruction, durable, and not liable to any derangement of any of itsparts; and to this main end and object my invention consists in thenovel construction of apparatus, which will be hereinafter more fullyexplained, and as will be more particularly pointed out and specified inthe claims of my application.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention relates tounderstand and practice my invention, I will now proceed to moreparticularly explain the several features of my improvements as I haveso far carried them out in practice, referring bylettersof reference tothe accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and inwhich I have illustrated a water-closet cistern apparatus containingmyinvention in the best form of carrying out the same now known to me.

, In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view or elevation of theapparatus. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same. Fig. 3 is a verticallongitudinal central section with the parts in the relative positionswhich they occupy when the discharge-valve is closing. Fig. 4 is apartial similar section, showing the valve raised from 5 5 its seat.

In the several figures the same part will be found designated by thesame letter of reference.

A is the body of the cistern or tank, which is provided with the usualdischarge-pipe, B, at the upper end of which is formed the seat for thevalve 0, the stem of which is connected, by a rod D, to avertically-arranged screwshaft, N, by means of which the said valve is 6lifted, in a manner which will be presently described.

E is the usual top cross-bar or platform of the cistern, carrying theusual standard, F, in whichis pivoted, at f, the usuallever, G, weightedat H, and connected at h with the usual cord or chain, which descends tothe seat of the closet, allin about the usual manner, except that thesaid lever G is provided at I with a pendent arm, which projectsobliquely downward, for a purpose to be presently explained. On thecross-bar or platform E there is also a smaller upwardly-projectin gstand, J, in which is pivoted an auxiliary lever, K, one end of which isbifurcated, as seen at m, and strad- 8o dles the lifting-shaft N justbelow its flangelike projection or collar 1, the other end of said leverK being adapted to be depressed by the lower end of the pendant I, (ofthe main lever G,) in a manner and for a purpose which will 8 bepresently described.

The lifting shaft or bar N is formed, as seen at n, with a comparativelyquick-threaded screw, with which engages a nut, 0, which is arranged, asshown, immediately over that go part of the main lever G which is yokedaround the said shaft N, and said lever Gr, it will be observed, is soshaped at the upper side of its yoke-like portion (see 8 s) as to cometo a suitable bearing against the under side 5 of the nut O in anyposition in which said lever G may happen to be, in order that it mayalways press upwardly against the bottom of said nut in such manner aswill not tend to cramp or make the nut bind on the thread of thescrew-shaft N.

The valve (J is formed or provided at its base with helical wings orpropeller-like blades, which project downwardly and are adapted todescend within the discharge-orifice of pipe B whenever the said valve 0descends onto its seat.

is simply a pin in the upper end of the screw-shaft N to prevent casualor other removal of the nut 0 from its shaft N.

In view of the foregoing explanation as to the construction andarrangement together of the several parts, together with a visualinspection of the drawings, the following description will serve tosufliciently explain the operation of my improved apparatus.

Assuming the valve 0 to be closed and all the parts in the relativepositions which they would occupy when the closet is in disuse, anyoccupancy of the closet and consequent depression of the seat thereofwill, as usual, through the medium of the pulling-down chain or cord,cause the descent of the outer or unweighted end of the mainlever G, andsaidlever will, as usual, remain in this depressed condition so long asthe seat is occupied; but when thelevcr is thus caused to descend (atits unweighted end) the pendent arm Lmoving in the arc of a circle, asindicated by the are in dotted lines and the arrow at Fig. 3, will causethe lever K to vibrate about its fulcrum in such a manner and to suchextent as will cause its bifurcated end at to first strike against andelevate the collar Z, and then slip upwardly past and free itself fromsaid collar, and this action and operation necessarily cause thescrew-shaft N, (to which collar 1 is fast,) to be lifted up, and thenpermitted to descend, which operation of said shaft N of course causesthe valve 0 to be lifted, and then permitted to close, for the purposeof allowing an escape through the pipe B of a quantity of watersufticient to produce the preliminary wash. Of course the construction,arrangement, and proportions of the parts the operations of whichproduce this lifting and permit this descent of the valve 0 are to besuch as to lift the valve to a suificient extent to permit the escape ofjust whateverquantityof water may be deemed necessary for producing thepreliminary fiush. The valve (3 is again lifted entirely from its seatand to its highcrmost position, whenever the seat shall becomeunoccupied, by the ascent of the free end of the lever Gr (caused by theaction of its usual weight H,) and by the sudden upward pressure of saidlever at the parts .9 against the under side of the nut 0, which islifted by the sudden ascent of this part of lever G too rapidly for anyappreciable relative movement to occur between said nut O and thethreaded portion a of the liftingshaft N. As soon as the lever G shallhave finisheditsupwardmovement(at theunweighted end) the gravity of theshaft N, augmented by the valve 0 and itsattachments, will cause theshaft N, on which said valve depends, to gradually descend, the pitch ofits thread a being so quick or great as to easily permit such descent,and thus the valve 0 will be enabled to resume its seat and cut off theflow of water through pipe B, which commenced at the beginning of theshaft N. In order that this action of the parts shall always bepositive, andthat it shall under no circumstances be impeded by thecollection of dirt or by the presence of any slight impediment to theaction of the working parts, I deem it necessary to have the pitch ofthe thread a so quick or great that without some counteracting influencethe valve 0 would be apt to descend too rapidly, and thus cut off thesupply of water before an ample or sufficient after-wash might have beeneffected. To counteract such too rapid descent of the valve 0, I haveprovided it with thedownwardly-projectinghelical vanes or propeller-likeblades R, which are constructed and arranged so as to tend to preventthe descent of the valve 0 when the latter shall be rotated on itsvertical axis in the direction of rotation of the screw-shaft N.

It will be observed that in an apparatus constructed as shown anddescribed not only will the usual depression and subsequent ascent ofthe unweighted end of lever Gr cause a proper preliminary and also aproper afterwash or main wash of the closet, but that the means by whichthese desirable ends are effected are simple and positive in theiractions, and hence not liable to get out of order.

Of {course the details of construction may be varied in many particularswithout changing the principle of operation of my improved apparatus,and the sizes, proportions, and relative arrangements of the parts ofthe contrivance may be varied more or less, according to thejudgment andexperience of the manufacturer, and in view of the circumstances orconditions under which the contrivance is designed for use, withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

Having now so fully explained the construction and operation of acontrivance in which my invention is embodied inthe best form now knownto me to enable those skilled in the art to make and use myimprovements, what 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. In a water-closet cistern, the combination, with the usual weightedlever and discharging-valve, of a screw shaft and nut, the combinationbeing such, as described, that when the said lever ascends at itsunweighted end it will operate against said nut, so as to bodily liftthe discharge-valve through the medium ofsaid screw-shaft, and also suchthat said screw-shaft will then turn within and descend through the saidnut until the dischargewhich descends by gravity and means for bar inthe manner described,and a suitable raising said valve, vanes or helicalblades R,

device, I, adapted to depress the other end of arranged and operating toretard the rotatory lever K, the combination being and operatingmovement of the valve duringits descent, subsubstantially as and for thepurposes set forth. 1 5 stantiallyas and for the purposes set forth. Inwitness whereof I have hereunto set my 3. In combination with .the mainlever G, hand this 13th day of December, 1882.

the lifting stem or rod of the discharge-valve of the water-closetcistern, provided with a WILLIAM SCOTT collar or suitable projection onsaid stem, a In presence of AMASA T. DAY.

to lever, K, one end of which is adapted to first F. J. MAGKAE,

lift and then release the said projection or col-

